The overall lesson of this lunar cycle is about the passage of Time. This month we will follow the lunar phases in the minor cards to help us understand the human need to measure Time. As well as the positive and negative aspects of living in a physical world where all things are governed by Time.
The image for the Hermit in the MAAT Tarot is the ancient Egyptian god Ra whose secret name was the Sun. Ra is indeed the hermit as he always sits alone in the daytime sky joined occasionally by the moon goddess alone. Ra was the supreme god in Egypt.
Ra reigned over every land in the world even foreign nations. Egyptian's found this to be true because everywhere they traveled there also was Ra (the sun in the sky). The image of Ra in the Hermit card is an old bearded man holding an hourglass; within the top chamber of the hourglass is the sun. The sun filling this chamber has reached its peak and now like the sands in an hourglass the sunlight will begin to empty into the bottom chamber of the glass.
The symbol of the hourglass represents the daylight hours, as light begins to diminish until reaching the shortest day on Winter Solstice, which occurs on or around December 21st in the Northern Hemisphere.

I felt that Ra made a good fit as the Hermit. Traditional tarot symbolizes the Hermit as an old man or sage on the highest mountain peak and that fits in well as the symbol for the lunar cycle that begins on June 21st when the sun reaches its zenith and then begins to wane. The god Ra was also associated with the afternoon sun part of a trinity with Horus represented the morning Sun as it rose in the sky and Osiris the great mystery of the sun at night. Osiris was at the heart of the mystery religion or cult of Egyptian priests who initiated by descending into the underworld to relive Isis’s loss and ascending into the heavens where Osiris could be seen as Orion in the night’s sky.
The following example illustrates the idea of Ra’s position in the afternoon and how it relates to Summer Solstice. If the year could be viewed as 24 hours the Summer solstice would be at high noon placing the full moon cycle of Capricorn at the very beginning of the afternoon.
Ra who is also called Amen-Ra or Amon-Ra is depicted as a Ram headed god. This also reflects the Capricorn image of a mountain goat. Goats and sheep are able to graze on the high mountain pastures during this time of the year. Goats and Rams who are genetically related to one another and were domesticated and cross- bred by early humans as a source of meat and milk as well as wool fiber for weaving clothes, ropes and even shelters like the yurt which is completely constructed of felted wool. Improving the quality of life and odds of survival for early humans. The domestication and breeding of animals like goats and sheep, also taught humans the importance of the male in reproduction. Which gave rise to powerful male solar gods. These solar gods became equally powerful to the prevailing female moon goddesses who had reflected the life giving power of the female menstrual cycle for the previous 30,000 years. These solar gods eventually usurped the role of earlier goddesses. As life changed for humans, domesticated animals became important as a resource to people who were settled and raising crops. No longer living a nomadic hunting and gathering lifestyle, goats, sheep and cattle provided wool, meat, milk and cheese and were a renewable source of wealth. Goats and sheep were cross- bred for specific traits like longer wool or better meat or more milk productivity, creating specialized breeds which are still very valuable to humans even today.

In a Reading: This card represents reaching some kind of peak. This card can also represent being lonely at the top. The card represents the wise old sage or master teacher who is above society and living alone on the mountain.

The overall lesson of this lunar cycle is about the passage of Time. This month we will follow the lunar phases in the minor cards to help us understand the human need to measure Time. As well as the positive and negative aspects of living in a physical world where all things are governed by Time.
The image for the Hermit in the MAAT Tarot is the ancient Egyptian god Ra whose secret name was the Sun. Ra is indeed the hermit as he always sits alone in the daytime sky joined occasionally by the moon goddess alone. Ra was the supreme god in Egypt.

I highlighted what Julie said here and what I read about Ra or Re from the crystalinks website http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptcreation.html There is quite a bit of information on the Egyptians on this site and much much more.

In this particular 'creative myth', Ra or Re had descended to earth and become a human. He reigned as a Pharoah and all was good. But he was getting old and one day as he walked upon a similar road, a snake bit him. A snake that was formed from the clay of the earth and his own spittle.

Quote:

The poison burned with a great burning, more powerful than any flame of fire, and Re (Ra) cried out at last: "Let the Name of Power pass from my heart into the heart of Isis! But before it does, swear to me that you will tell it to no other save only the son whom you will have, whose name shall be Horus. And bind him first with such an oath that the name will remain with him and be passed on to no other gods or men."

Isis the great magician swore the oath, and the knowledge of the Name of Power passed from the heart of Re into hers.

Then she said: "By the name which I know, let the poison go from Re for ever!"

So it passed from him and he had peace. But he reigned upon earth no longer. Instead he took his place in the high heavens, traveling each day across the sky in the likeness of the sun itself, and by night crossing the underworld of Amenti in the Boat of Re and passing through the twelve divisions of Duat where many dangers lurk.

How often it is we we feel we have 'snakes' or fire breathing dragons keeping us from the path of self esteem and happiness. Many of these 'beasts' hang out in the dark caves of our subconscious.....most of them generated out of fear. Fear, guilt and shame can bind us to our past hurts and stop us from moving forward.

I do think it has taken tremendous courage for this Hermit to remove himself from the clutches of his fears (the snake) below. But if he hadn't faced his fears the snake(s) would have gained strength and at some point suddenly raised itself up, demanding the Hermit's attention.

The Hermit now knows that fear and past hurts cannot be avoided but faced, lived through and learned from. I'm sure he has learned to pay attention to his dreams, intuitions, passions and everyday events as well as synchronicities which eventually have led him to the summit. To do this, he may have had to leave all that was familiar to him (home, family, parents, relationships) to discover his Self and natural gifts and talents. What an expansive vision!

His red robe (blood and fire) probably means his life at this point in time is now directed outward. All that has been experienced, learned and understood the Hermit now belongs in the midst of life. His feelings run so deep to help others, he will make an effort to surmount his passion for solitude and privacy.

Orange is a very warm social color and could intuitively reflect a profession in which there are wide contacts with humanity.

Hi CR,
As long as we are on the topic of the Hermit and we know how tarot is a
living thing and is constantly unfolding. I had the privilege of going to the
Serpent Mound in Ohio the day after the Summer Solstice this past June.(The Serpent Mound is pictured in the foreground of MAAT's Hermit) I put it into the painting because of its similarity visually to the legend of Ra and Isis. And I like seeing similarities in different ancient cultures and myths. What I found there rocked my world.
First of all this giant mound is up on top of a cliff alone in the middle of an unpopulated area. When you walk the path around the serpent it is fairly tall in places and it is aligned with the Summer Solstice sunset. When viewed at sunset it appears as if the sun sets into the egg in the serpents mouth. The curves of the snakes body is aligned with the farthest moon sets and moon rises and the tail is aligned with the winter solstice sun rise, so in effect it would appear that the snake that swallows the summer solstice sun at sunset would give birth to the newborn sun on winter solstice morning. There is no writing or stories left to us about this mound but the mound itself seems to tell the story.
I made 3 short videos about this with my husband as we walked through this park June 22nd.
You may want to check out the videos and see what comes to you about it.http://www.newmoontradingco.com/homemovies.html

Viewing the serpent mound made me understand why it had to be in the Hermit card.

Hi CR,
As long as we are on the topic of the Hermit and we know how tarot is a
living thing and is constantly unfolding. I had the privilege of going to the
Serpent Mound in Ohio the day after the Summer Solstice this past June.(The Serpent Mound is pictured in the foreground of MAAT's Hermit) I put it into the painting because of its similarity visually to the legend of Ra and Isis. And I like seeing similarities in different ancient cultures and myths. What I found there rocked my world.
First of all this giant mound is up on top of a cliff alone in the middle of an unpopulated area. When you walk the path around the serpent it is fairly tall in places and it is aligned with the Summer Solstice sunset. When viewed at sunset it appears as if the sun sets into the egg in the serpents mouth. The curves of the snakes body is aligned with the farthest moon sets and moon rises and the tail is aligned with the winter solstice sun rise, so in effect it would appear that the snake that swallows the summer solstice sun at sunset would give birth to the newborn sun on winter solstice morning. There is no writing or stories left to us about this mound but the mound itself seems to tell the story.
I made 3 short videos about this with my husband as we walked through this park June 22nd.
You may want to check out the videos and see what comes to you about it.http://www.newmoontradingco.com/homemovies.html

Viewing the serpent mound made me understand why it had to be in the Hermit card.

This powerful energy rising from the depths of the earth-body is the energy of transformation, the energy that destroys blockages and barriers to the higher states of consciousness. It is the energy charted by shamans of every primary culture, the energy inherent in every human body.

Exactly what I believe the Hermit himself has learned and experienced. This card has been a confirmation for my own life.........I was born when the Moon was full in Capricorn.

Hi all,
I must say I followed the Egyptian link and the stories posted there are
the two that have haunted me most before and after my trip to Egypt last
fall. I have been starting to paint about it and am planning on doing an art show in Niagara in late January early February. My latest image is the connection
between the Sekhemet story and the Dionysian mysteries. Some stories say
ochre colored beer others say wine either way it is an interesting twist on the modern masculine "wine into blood" verses the more ancient feminine "blood into wine".
Here's a first look at my latest painting for this show.

Your paintings are beautiful Julie and I love how you've used symbolism and your own intuition to create it. Both Dionysus and Sekhmet have transformed and united evoking a recognition of who they (we) really are, behind the veils of illusion. To me it is an opportunity to recreate and re-encounter ourselves through the awakening of the sacred masculine and sacred feminine.

As always happens, more thoughts came to me of this painting after I had walked away from the computer. I looked up the 'cobra' in relation to Egyptian myth and it's name has also been called Uraeus, an emblem of 'Lower Egypt' and associated with the 'King', the Sun and the 'fiery eye of Ra' that was worn as a headdress for the royalty.

I'd like to know what inspired you to paint this Julie and the symbolism behind it.

The cobra also represents the Kundalini, this name escaped me when I had written earlier. If awakened abruptly it can show its displeasure by hissing and with a sharp sting that can create jolts of energy too strong for our system.

The kundalini is said to hold secrets that when awakened can bring about a vibrational transformation.

Also loving intention, purity of heart (lionheart) and compassion are prerequisites for true spiritual progress. This painting is quite enlightening!

We can see Marilyn staying alone on the top of the heal. He is taking the light in his right hand (giving hand). He gives his wisdom and inner light to others, share it. The light - it is human's consciousness.
The boundaries that we have been building in order to separate the sky from the ground, mind from matter, the real from the unreal, - it is just convention. But if we create a boundary, we can just as easily destroy them.
He began his way from the bottom from the darkness part of his way. Dark shadow is running down from Marilyn's Wand. From a simple space, he created a bunch of energy (Magic ball on his wand), he reached to the top of his self-learning, transforming energy into solid objects, and vice versa. He reached the top of his magical abilities. Making solid magic ball from different types of energy he created the tool which helped him to see past, present and future. Through magical ball he began to understand and see things other people were not able to realize.
He proclames that everything is in our efforts we can put things under our control can be Masters of our life, turning it the way we like.

Basis for the plot of Marilyn's wand has become a legend of a struggle of the two dragons that he discerned when he was a kid. But I do not see dragons, there are two Snakes taking magical ball. There is another green Snake with something look like egg its mouth, in right side of the card. It refers me to the Old Druid legend and rite.
Snake was considered like a symbol embodies eternity, rebirth, fertility. Its spiral tale is the symbol of motion, the rotation of our lives, which with the help of self-developing rises in a spiral. This evolutionary process is the creation of a world in which the first act of creation should be a series of follow-up.
Due to druid legend in summer many snakes gather together in one place, gum saliva and mucus and their bodies intertwined in a close ball - «snake egg». Hissing serpents throw this egg in the air, and then the human had to catch it in the mantle before it touches the ground. Human caught snake egg, had to flee because the snake chased him until they were not blocking the path of a river. (I see thin line of white-blue river behind green Snake on the card). This egg was considered a Druid like a wonderful thing helping win the litigation and receive patronage powers.
So that Marilyn has got magical power and authority, getting this magical ball (Snake egg).

And the last. Marilyn's light made in the form of Sandglass clock. Sandglass primarily a symbol of time over life, understanding how much us out, and go left. Sandglass shows the grain disappears allotted to us in this world, and that sooner or later fall last crumb, and before that happens you need to have time to do everything in this life, so that nothing was regrettable.

This Sandglass tells us we should be in a hurry, because the time is flowing very quickly. We have the ONLY life in order to be on time, to develop oneself and our possibilities. We should gather them in the only ball and share with others.

And now we have moved on, the cups behind us, the story of love complete- but continuing. Now, it is the coins. And starting the cycle is the wise visage of the hermit...

Cards/Numbers: The Hermit/55, The Sun/56

Card Images: see attached

First Impressions: These cards go together, I feel that strongly. The aged Amun-Ra together with the sun. How it will be revealed is not clear, but the journey starts with both of them.

Masculine/Feminine/Neutral: Masculine

Senses: The air has grown hot- summer is here and the glow from the man and his sun warms my bones. The air is moist and humid against my skin, the smell of vanilla and musk blows in the breeze.

Symbols: old man, hourglass, mountain, fertilized egg, sun

Story (intuitive): I walk up the mountain with trepid steps and follow the light until I find him- the wise man. He stands at the peak of the mountain, looking out before him. His silence weighs on me heavily, and I sit on a nearby rock. We watch, together, as the sun slowly sets and the light from his lantern shines brightly in the dusk. After a while, he turns to me, and his eyes cut through my soul. “You came.” he comments. I nod. He looks out again and softly sighs, then begins to speak- still looking at the horizon. “Good! This is not the journey you just completed, the re-learning of love. No- this is your spiritual journey, and the path is not only rocky and treacherous, but unclear.” He turns to me, those knowing eyes. Again I nod, “I am afraid father, but ready. This is a journey that needs to be completed.” He gazes at me, as if measuring my intent, measuring my ability to make right of this task. Something that he has seen must have given him the information he sought, for he speaks again, this time in a more gentle voice. “Good. Your fear is of the unknown, but one you have to face. It is good you realize this, for it will keep your courage strong during the trials you have ahead of you. Your true journey began lifetimes ago- you have seen pieces of this, small moments in time, as you have walked back into those previous lifetimes. But for now, this path will be the one from this current cycle- it started with the spark of life.” And I watch, as the light in the hourglass grows brighter and brighter, taking up the length of the sky, bright sunlight bathing me from the image of a golden fertilized egg- the symbol of life, hope, new beginnings, and untapped potential. “That is where it began this time”, he continues, “with the spark of life. Make no mistake- all that has been is as it was supposed to be. For this cycle, what you have seen, heard and lived is what was needed to continue on your journey, one started so many lifetimes ago. And now, you must go back, back to that first call. And as you re-live and re-trace your path, you may be surprised at where it takes you, and (he chuckles) where it truly began. Go, walk and I will see you again when it is time.”. I know that our moment is over, and though I long to stay, I turn around and slowly walk toward the path that will take me down the mountain, Before I leave, I turn to him one last time. “I look forward to seeing you again soon father, thank you for your guidance and faith in my journey,” He smiles gently at me, “I have always believed in you child, the hard part was in getting you to believe in yourself.” And on these words, I walk down the mountain, my heart lightened a bit from the journey ahead, ready and confident to begin my work.

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